Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered the long-standing 3,000 metres world record by more than three seconds at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Sunday.
The Norwegian finished in a time of 7min 17.55sec, erasing the record set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996 when he ran 7-20.67. It was the longest-standing men’s athletics world record in individual track events.
The 23-year-old was in shock when he crossed the line and looked at his time, putting his hands on his head in disbelief. Ingebrigtsen received a cheque for $50,000 and posed with it in front of the clock at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow, Poland.
“It feels special, amazing. I was hoping to challenge the world record here but, based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said.
“I would not have imagined I could run 7-17, though. At the beginning the pace felt really fast but then I started to feel my way into the race and found a good rhythm.
“[The] 3,000 is a tough distance. After four-five laps you feel the lactic acid but you need to get going. The conditions were difficult with the heat today but it is the same for everyone.”
Three days ago, the Norwegian had exacted a small measure of revenge over American Cole Hocker by winning the 1500m in Lausanne in 3-27.83, two weeks after Hocker shocked the Olympic field to win gold in Paris.
Ingebrigtsen finished ahead of a trio of Ethiopians, with Paris Olympics 10,000m silver medalist Berihu Aregawi second in a personal best and the third-fastest time in history (7-21.28). Yomif Kejelcha was third.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis also broke his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.26m, eclipsing the previous best for the 10th time, beating the 6.25m he cleared after defending his Olympic title in Paris earlier this month.
Such is his domination in the sport – this was the third time this year he has broken his own record – that the top 10 marks in the event all belong to the 24-year-old. The next best mark is 6.16m, held by France’s 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie.
The Swede easily won the competition at 6.00m and immediately moved the bar to the world record height of 6.26, clearing it on his second attempt before he raced to the track and fell to the ground in celebration.
“I know a lot of people came here to see me jump, so I wanted to put in a good showing for them,” Duplantis said.
“This year I focused on the Olympics, the record just came naturally because I was in good shape. So I am not surprised with the record today, but I am thankful.”
Great Britain’s Daryll Neita narrowly missed out in the women’s 100m final after finishing fourth, but her finish was an improvement on Thursday’s disappointing seventh.
After running a season-best 10.88 to triumph in the 100m in Lausanne, Dina Asher-Smith did not compete in Silesia after admitting on her Instagram stories on Saturday that her body needed a “little rest”.
Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie clinched second in the women’s 1000m with a time of 2-32.56 to finish just behind Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir, who took first, while Georgia Bell finished third in the women’s 1500m.
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